The present disclosure relates to a vehicle and more particularly to devices, systems, and methods of determining seatbelt position.
In order to encourage drivers to wear safety belts, cars normally include warning chimes reminding drivers if safety belts are not fastened. Indeed, such warnings are required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. However, even when a vehicle does alert a driver to the absence of a fastened seatbelt, the driver can always choose to ignore the alert.
Drivers may be able to circumvent these safety features because, often, the only indicator of a seatbelt's status is a sensor located in the seatbelt buckle that detects whether the seatbelt is latched. However, it cannot be assumed that a seatbelt is adequately fulfilling its intended use merely because the seatbelt is latched. For example, even while a seatbelt is latched, a driver is still able to remove the seatbelt's shoulder harness and put it behind his or her back. If a driver wishes to permanently disable the warning feature, the driver may cut off the metal plate portion (called the seatbelt's “tongue”) and leave it—or an aftermarket tongue designed to matched the shape of the original—inserted into the buckle, thus completely circumventing the warning feature. Even without intentional circumvention, seatbelts may become twisted or moved out of position inadvertently, without the driver having any indication or knowledge of the problem. Similarly, if the driver slouches, the seatbelt harness may not be positioned correctly over the driver's upper body. Also, if a driver has a non-average body type or shape (for example, if the driver is pregnant, or is significantly large or small), then the seatbelt might not be in the optimum position. In all of these cases, the driver will not be warned because the seatbelt is technically “fastened.”